Wednesday, 26 January 2011

As innovators in the high profile travel insurance market, Go Walkabout travel insurance products now include Financial Failure protection as standard.

The cover, provided by specialists International Passenger Protection Ltd, protects travellers against the financial collapse of End Suppliers including airlines, accommodation suppliers, car hire companies and excursion organisers (plus much more).

The decision to include the cover came as a result of the continued fragility of the travel market and the Governments’ ATOL protection being restricted to cover package bookings only (where a flight plus another component part of the trip are booked from the same operator).

The massive volume of our market are independent travellers and so the protection we offer needs to address their needs,’ explained Harold Lawrence, Partner at Go Walkabout.

A recent report by independent rating agency Defacto found that only 20% of travel insurance policies include this protection and travellers are realising the importance of the cover following recent high profile collapses of airlines such as Globespan and Sky Europe and continued fragility in the aviation industry.

‘Those of us who book directly with suppliers for budget and flexibility reasons really need this protection and I urge everyone to check their cover includes this important cover. If it doesn’t, make sure your next travel insurance product is with Go Walkabout,’ concluded Mr Lawrence.

Sunday, 16 January 2011

The first instalment of the brand new ITV three part series “Kidnap and Ransom” went out on ITV 1 on Thursday 13th January. The programme stars Trevor Eve as Dominic King a private hostage negotiator based in the UK. There are a number of other well known actors and actresses in this drama.

The storyline for the first part was of a biologist Naomi Shaffer (played by Emma Fielding) who was kidnapped on the way to the airport in South Africa. The pharmaceutical company was prepared to pay the ransom for her release that in the end did not happen as the deal to release her was just about to happen when she was kidnapped (after being injured in the gun battle) by another gang of kidnappers.

We will wait to see what happens next Thursday or even the third week of this series.

The newspapers reviews I have seen liked the programme and were looking forward to the second one. Hopefully the high standard continues and more of these programmes are made.

If you are going to be working in an environment in the world where you could have a similar experience it would be sensible to actually taking out a Kidnap and Ransom “travel insurance”policy. On the other hand if you are sending your staff off to places where a similar situation could arise, again consider very seriously taking out insurance.

Tuesday, 11 January 2011

Neil Cook of T R Youngs Insurance Brokers was contacted by a client with the following story.

January 2008 we were insured by AxA group, paying £306.91 per year, we were flooded in the September of that year, AxA dealt with the claim quickly, informing us at all steps of the recovery, we were back in the house in the February 09.

In the January of 2009 we were quoted and paid £681.61, accepting this, as we had just made a claim.

In the January of 2010 we were quoted £1,009.32, and this increase was justified as AxA apparently had revaluated their cost of expenditure after the floods.

We tried to insure our house with other companies, but to no avail as soon as we stated that we had been flooded they were not interested, therefore, we had to stay with AxA, until this year when AxA sent us a quote for the year 2011, costing £3,334.25 that is a monthly payment of £327.25, again they stated that they had "re-evaluated the cost of expenditure" and justified the increase.

This was a frightening time as a family, we knew if we had to pay AxA`s premiums we would find it very difficult, it was at this time we made contact with Neil Cook, he listened to our experience and found us affordable insurance.

To others who are feeling frightened by insurance groups who are happy to take your money, then penalize you heavily for making a claim that was out of your control, take comfort that there are others who are happy to help to maintain affordable insurance cover.

"According to data from Axa, household insurance for homes in high flood risk regions is being subsidised by £511 each year. The insurer stated this means that homeowners in affected regions are only paying 42% of the true cost of insurance to protect their homes against flooding."

The latest figures were as part of an AXA parliamentary flooding event It was also mentioned that the STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES TO FLOOD VICTIMS (which promises fair premiums to those affected by flood or those in high risk flood areas) will not be extended when it expires in 2013.

No doubt other insurers will follow this method to justify massive unfair premium increases.

When a businesswoman (Emma Fielding) is kidnapped in South Africa, expert hostage negotiator Dominic King (Trevor Eve) believes he’s dealing with a straightforward case – pay the money, get her back.

But when the release is botched and they strike again in Britain, the kidnapper, Willard’s (JohnHannah) motives become far more sinister. With trouble brewing at home with his wife Sophie (Natasha Little) and teenage daughter - and his team, boss Angela (Helen Baxendale) and ambitious assistant Carrie (Amara Karan) pushed to the limit, King must draw on all his reserves to bring the victims home alive."

The first of the series goes out on ITV 1 Thursday 13th January at 9pm. A short preview can be seen on the ITV web site HERE

jml insurance has been promoting Kidnap and Ransom insurance under the Travel Insurance category on behalf of Equity and General Insurance Services.

Neil Cook an insurance broker with Equity and General said that they have received a lot of enquiries for Kidnap and Ransom insurance and the threat of kidnapping has traditionally been associated with Latin America but is now a global issue.

Large or small companies and corporations can be a trarget and it is most important that management pays close attention to the personal safety of its staff in the world we live in.

Friday, 7 January 2011

As Premier HomeLet agents at jml Property Services we receive copy notifications from HomeLetof landlords who have not been able to pay their monthly insurance payments.

Sometimes this could be because they have changed their credit card and not notified HomeLet of the change, but usually it would be because they have gone over their credit limit after a big spend over Christmas and the New Year sales.

In today's post we received letters from HomeLet advising that a Landlord who has at least three rental properties in the west midlands had not paid.

The letters say "to ensure continuance of cover, we will attempt to collect the outstanding amount from the client's credit/debit card account over the course of the next 10 days. Thereafter the regular premium will be collected on the normal collection day.

We must inform you that failure to maintain monthly installments could result in the cancellation or voidance of the client's policy in accordance with policy terms and conditions."

In a nutshell this means if the payments stop so does the insurance cover, so what happens in the middle of winter if the landlord has a burst pipe, roof tiles blown off the roof or a tenant stops paying rent? It could be a major problem for the landlord.

If you are a Landlord or Tenant and you stop paying your insurance premium, remember you are exposing yourself to no insurance cover.